Graham Vials

Vials grew up in Darlington in County Durham.^[6]

Vials begun his sailing career in an Optimist, a small, single-handed dinghy designed for sailors under the age of fifteen. He then moved into a 420 before moving into the 470 in 2001. At his first European Championships in the 470 he placed 12th sailing with Dan Newman. He missed out on qualifying for both the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, going to Athens as a reserve in 2004.^[7]

He sailed a Moth for much of the late 2000s, placing 7th at the 2008 Worlds.^[8]

His first Flying Fifteen World Championship came in 2011, where he won the event without competing in the final race.^[9] Over the next fourteen years he would win a total of six world championships becoming the most successful Flying Fifteen helm of all time.^[10][11][12]